Police say NFL player Michael Bennett ran out of Vegas casino

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, left, sits during the playing of the national anthem.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police say Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett ran from officers searching for what they believed was an active shooter inside a Las Vegas Strip casino before he was stopped at gunpoint and handcuffed for questioning.

Bennett wasn't arrested during the encounter with police outside the Cromwell casino hours after the Aug. 26 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.

Bennett said Wednesday that he believes police singled him out as he was running because he is black, and that officers used excessive force against him.

Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill says Bennett didn't stop when officers saw him emerge from behind a gambling machine and run outside into traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard.

McMahill says at least one officer who chased Bennett didn't have his body camera activated.

But he says police internal affairs investigators are now going through hundreds of other videos.

Bennett spoke briefly Wednesday at the Seahawks' practice facility. He declined to go into specifics of what happened during the encounter with police following the Aug. 26 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.

Bennett said he had constant thoughts of his wife and kids while being detained. He eventually stopped speaking and walked away from the podium when asked about his family.

"It sucks that the country that we live in now sometimes you get profiled for the color of your skin," Bennett said.

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9:40 a.m.

Seattle Seahawks player Michael Bennett is accusing Las Vegas police of racially motivated excessive force after he says he was threatened at gunpoint following a report that shots were heard at a casino hotel.

Bennett posted a Twitter account early Wednesday saying police singled him out as he was running from a sharp sound following the Aug. 26 fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.

The 6-foot-4 defensive end says he was handcuffed face-down on the ground after one officer held a gun to his head saying he would blow his head off if he moved. Bennett, who has been a leader of the national anthem protests started by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, was released without charges.

Police later attributed the report of gunfire to the sound of velvet rope stands falling over.